Teenager beaten up for `unwittingly` helping vehicle thief in Delhi

New Delhi: Eighteen-year-old Sandeep came to the capital to meet his uncle but ended up in a hospital bed after people beat him up suspecting him to be a vehicle thief.

The teenager was beaten up in West Delhi`s Nangloi on Sunday night as locals suspected him to be part of a gang of vehicle thieves after he "unwittingly" helped an unknown man
steal a two-wheeler.

The Class XII student, who hails from Haryana`s Rohtak, was here on a visit to his uncle`s residence and had gone out in the evening when the unknown man sought his help
in starting a motorcycle.

"A man asked Sandeep whether he could help him start his motorcycle by pushing it. The boy agreed and when the motorcycle got started, the man fled from the spot," a senior
police official said.

However, soon it turned out that the unknown man whom Sandeep helped was fleeing after stealing the motorcycle. The locals who gathered at the spot suspected that the boy was also part of a gang of vehicle thieves.
The locals caught Sandeep, who pleaded innocence. However, the locals were in no mood to believe him and beat him up before informing police who rushed him to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, the official said.

At the hospital, Sandeep told police that he knew nothing about the vehicle theft and told police that he had come to the city to visit his uncle. "He told us that he knew
nothing about the incident," the official said.

Police cross checked the details and found Sandeep was innocent, the official said.
No arrests have been made in this case so far.